no ads, no fluff, just raw news summaries, official rankings and ceo interviews

COMPETE -- Dec 28 -- Ranking online dating sites purely on visitor traffic is flawed; membership is a prerequisite to use the services, and member activity is the foundation of successful matchmaking. Looking at how members use a site gives a clearer picture of the online dating landscape, and changes rankings dramatically. Member visits start to reveal actual engagement. Yahoo Personals grabbed the top rank. While TRUE placed 2nd in visitors, its 8th rank in member logins indicates that much of this traffic came from TRUE's intense advertising efforts on youth oriented social networking sites. In addition True members represented a mere 8% of total visitors. Plentyoffish.com showed that free services can be successful; 9th in terms of visitors, the site leapt to 5th in member interaction. More importantly, it was one of 5 sites with more than 10 million member visits, putting it in a class with much higher trafficked sites and besting its next competitor by a multiple of 2x. FULL ARTICLE @ COMPETE

AP -- Dec 28 -- In the wake of the holiday shopping rush, web surfers are heading online for a different kind of transaction: finding a soulmate. According to data from the Atlas Institute, the research arm of online advertising agency aQuantive Inc., online personals and dating sites saw a major increase in action during the week between Christmas and New Year's last year. Transaction volume on dating sites climbed steadily through January 2006 to levels 50% higher than on retail sites. Said Match.com CEO Jim Safka, "traffic and registrations on the site pick up right after Christmas and continue at 30% to 50% above average through Valentine's Day."

OPW INTERVIEW -- Dec 27, 2006 -- Match.com has a new look, new services and a new ad campaign. I interviewed Jim Safka to find out more. - Mark Brooks

What proportion of your advertising budget will be dedicated toward TV advertising in Q1, 2007?We have a big advertising mix in store for 2007. We’ll be spending more on advertising in 2007 than we have ever spent in the history of Match.com. It will be a good balance of prime time television, network radio, print advertising in magazines such as People, US and Vanity Fair and the women’s books like Glamour and Vogue. Ultimately, it’s going to be an integrated mix of advertising that will collectively end up being more then we’ve ever done in the history of the company. The majority of the campaign will be on TV followed by an equal split between radio and print. We will also have a great deal of online advertising as well, including of course, our partnerships like MSN and AOL.

I love the new ads. Why black and white?We think that black and white is extremely classy and from an image standpoint it feels even more sophisticated. Cecil B. DeMille once said, “When taking portraits black and whites are more real then color.” With this campaign we are trying to capture the inner spirit of our subscribers and show them in the best possible way. It’s not in the sense of a makeover, but instead we wanted to capture their beauty - their inner beauty - and we think black and white is a great way to do it. We haven’t seen this type of photography or this style used in this category before, so we know it will be different. We think it will be classier and fresh.

Why did you choose these particular people, and which ad is your personal favorite?We contacted Match.com subscribers throughout the country and found people in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Texas. There was a gentleman from Seattle and several people were from Florida as well. Match.com flew the 26 people selected out to Los Angeles to do this shoot with a world famous photographer named Peggy Sirota. You can see her other work at www.peggysirota.com. She’s photographed the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Seal and many other famous celebrities for magazine covers. She recently photographed Tiger Woods.

Peggy shot our members for online, print and television. What was fascinating about the process was that we just didn’t line them up for a photo shoot – she really got to know these people and what drives them and what they’re looking for, not just in a relationship, but as a human being. I think you’ll find that she really captured the essence of who these people are. We didn’t want to change who they are, we really wanted to capture what was special about them. Each one of our members is just brilliant in their own way.

In terms of a favorite, my favorite just might be the woman with user name DanishBeauty22, and she’s a widow who is on Match.com today. She’s 71 year’s old and has to be one of the better looking 71-year old on the planet. She’s very full of life with many diverse interests. In the TV ad of her singing, she trips up a little bit and you will see that we’re not just trying to capture people’s perfections, but we’re capturing their imperfections. The part where she messes up a bit makes the whole spot just adorable. It captures the human element that is representative of the whole campaign. Some of our members are blogging about their experience at www.match.com/okay.

How are you guiding people to take better photographs, which capture them currently and accurately?People are going to be able to see all 26 members and their photographs not only on our advertising campaign but also on Match.com. We think when other members see how gorgeous these people look, yet how very real they look, they’re going to want to step up their game. I often say there are a lot of people who seem to spend more time getting ready to go to the supermarket on a Sunday, than they do in putting together their profile that ends up on Match.com.

Being on Match.com is the equivalent of being on a stage at Madison Square Garden where thousands of people will be looking at you. And if anybody were to get up on that stage, they would have the best possible representation of themselves. So part of the idea of this campaign is you can do it yourself.

We’re going to give our members the capabilities to capture themselves in a way they can be really proud of. We worked really hard to find a person that we thought could help us do this and we found a real rising star in a guy by the name of Jay Manuel. He is on the show America’s Next Top Model. Jay is now the Director of Style for Match.com where he helps people with everything from photography to writing a great profile.

With Jay, we created what we call a “Portrait Tool Kit” and you can see this right on the home page of Match.com or at www.match.com/portrait. Jay takes you through the dos and don’ts of what it takes to create a great portrait of yourself through video and text. He’s got advice on what to wear, how to style yourself, how to pick a good headline, how to give great examples of what you like and what you don’t like, and what you’re looking for and what you’re not. We think when people go through the process of really engaging with the Portrait Tool Kit, it’s a major confidence booster and it will give them basic tricks and tips. So you’ll be in a position to create a representation of yourself where when you take a step back and look at it you’ll go, “Wow I’m proud to be that person.”

You’re introducing a VIP service. Can you tell us more about that?Match.com has a pilot in Dallas called Match Platinum and can be found at http://platinum.match.com. Match Platinum is a breakthrough new service that is geared towards somebody who is an active professional, who is busy, and who loves the idea of Match expanding their possibilities. This person also wants a concierge-like service level and the guidance of a personal matchmaker.

The difference in what we’re doing versus what anyone else has done in the history of this category is our matchmakers have access to the Match.com profile base of 15 million members. They sort through those people and have preferred access to them. The matchmaker will actively screen the potential people to make sure there’s a good fit, validate their identities, and conduct a background check. By the time they go on a date, a Match Platinum member will have a highly qualified candidate. We see this service as appealing for people who are particularly busy or who want a little more privacy.

We also have total transparency around this service. When you go to Match Platinum, you will see the matchmakers who work for us along with a profile for each of them, and a blog about their experience of being a matchmaker for Match Platinum. Our members can see their history, philosophy and get a sense of which matchmaker would work best for them. We really stand behind this product. We’re piloting it in Dallas during the month of January with aggressive expansion plans to follow. We intend to be in the top twenty markets throughout the United States before the year is over. We’ll also be piloting this in several international markets as well, specifically Japan and the UK.

What will people pay for this service and how many dates will they get?We’re still in a pilot in Dallas, so we’re still working out the exact price points. But I will say this, the initial members that sign up are going to get the most extraordinary service. We want to have great word of mouth around this product. Whoever signs up for this service right out of the gate, in addition to having the matchmaker working on their behalf, will have me personally working on their behalf to make sure they end up with a great result. Our expectation is that we will over deliver on the value and learn how to become great at this service. Once we’ve discovered what it takes to deliver that level of service that customers are going to expect, we’ll have a sense of what it costs our company and we can establish the appropriate price point.

Do you envision that price point would be over $1,000 for a year?That depends. My goal is to make this service as accessible as possible to a broad as possible audience. Again, we haven’t locked in on a price point and we are likely to have different levels of price points as well.

How is the Match Anonymous Calling Program coming along for you?matchTalk has been an extraordinary success. Since we’ve launched it nationally the number of people using it has exceeded our original forecasts. I read our suggestions and comments box every day and the feedback from our customers has really been categorically positive. This is another feature that Match.com has delivered that adds value to the overall experience with no additional cost to the customer.

It’s consistent with how we run the overall business – we’ve continually innovating, continually adding new people to the site, and adding new functionalities to the site. It’s what we have to do as the market leader to grow the category. So now we have Dr. Phil, a 6 month guarantee, a new Portrait Toolkit, matchTalk so people can talk on the phone anonymously, and we have more than 60,000 people who are signing up for the service every single day. You start to put all this together and you see the flywheel is not just picking up momentum, the business is going better then ever.

FINANCIAL TIMES -- Dec 21 -- After surging 77% in 2003, the online dating industry's revenues grew by only 7% last year to $516m (Jupiter). The fastest growth is coming singles 50+. While it took a while to catch on, eHarmony blossomed after the folksy Dr Warren took to the airwaves in a barrage of TV and radio advertisements. Match fought back and signed up Dr Phil. "Match has been moving into eHarmony's territory," said Nate Elliott, Jupiter Media analyst. Nate questions Dr Phil's scientific credentials but believes Match's more casual dating heritage may give it an edge when it comes to attracting men. Both companies are working feverishly to refine their sites. Dr Warren's researchers are promising more sophisticated love algorithms and Match plans to send customers potential mates, unsolicited, in the same way that Amazon.com recommends books. Match enjoys a clear advantage over eHarmony in the international market (18 languages). Jim Safka (CEO) has even met Japanese government officials who are worried about the country's low birthrate. FULL ARTICLE @ FT

Mark Brooks: Watch this space. I'll be interviewing Jim Safka, CEO of Match.com, about his new advertising program, VIP matchmaking services, and Match Talk, for later this week. Should be live by Friday.

REUTERS -- Dec 26 -- Online dating site Match.com is enlisting a celebrity stylist to advise camera-shy singles how to build a hip, sexy Web portrait of themselves. Match revenue grew 22% to $80 million in Q3. CEO Jim Safka believes a key to gaining new members is helping them find their voice online, whether to unleash their inner rock star or lyric poet in a Web portrait. "People are much more interesting and much more dynamic and appealing than their portraits and profiles often show...The people who have older photos or misrepresent themselves in some way, they are not successful on Match."

LA TIMES -- Dec 25 -- Mixi's highly specialized online shopping circles, 900,000 virtual communities are nurtured within the 6-million-strong empire of Mixi users. In Japan such communities have become so strongly linked to the real world in recent years that they now can affect the behavior of consumers at venues as diverse as pet shops and noodle bars. MySpace is determined to muscle in on this scene. In November, MySpace announced a joint venture with Internet and telecommunications group Softbank in a move that should see a fully localized PC-based version of MySpace operating in Japan in March. Mixi is invitation-only and receives 750 million hits per month from PC users, and nearly 2 billion hits from Japanese accessing the service on their mobile phones.

OPW -- Dec 21 -- Do you think Online Personals Watch & Social Networking Watch suck? What could we do better? What information is missing? What should be removed? How can it be more useful for you? Your comment/feedback is greatly appreciated.

PR WEB -- Dec 21 -- "Since 2004, ProfileHelper.com has been helping singles create amazing online dating profiles and create winning personal strategies for finding love on the internet," says Eric Resnick, the company's Founder and Lead Advisor. By purchasing a ProfileHelper.com Gift Certificate, people can give their single loved ones the Ultimate Online Dating Success Package. Founded in 2004 by Eric Resnick, ProfileHelper helps singles with Profile writing services and the syndicated "Ask the Expert!" dating advice column which can be read weekly in over 200 newspapers across the nation. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB

Mark Brooks: Have you sent your dating site members a gift certificate offer? A Xmas card? This is the time of the year to reach out to your members with a high quality electronic Xmas card and a compelling gift certificate offer. There's still time.

MARKET WATCH -- Dec 21 -- VCs are close to finalizing a venture capital round, investing $13 million and valuing LinkedIn (8.5 million members, 1.5 million uniques, 36 million PV's) at a post-financing valuation of $250 million. Linkedin CEO Reid Hoffman boldly predicts the company will hit $100 million revenues in 2008. Based on Linkedin's revenue run-rate, and its post-money valuation of $250 million, it's being valued similar to Monster.com which trades for about 5x sales. Consumers are expected to increasingly join smaller social networks as they find more comfort in sites where they can connect with others based on similar interests. Sports Illustrated just inked a deal with one-year-old Takkle.com, a social network for high school athletes. Linkedin has three revenue streams today -- sponsorships, subscriptions to scour and contact Linkedin's 8.5 million membership base, and job listings. About 45% of the revenue comes from subscriptions. Corporations pay between $10,000 and $100,000 annually to let their internal recruiting staff use Linkedin's database for potential hires. Individuals also pay $20 per month to be able to contact people outside their network (1% to 2% of the members).

The full article was originally published at Market Watch, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Facebook is now open to the world. LinkedIn will be able to take advantage of Facebooks loss of focus. I think Facebook users will eventually shift to other student focused sites and graduate to other sites that are more focused on their more specific needs. Your comments please.

TECH CRUNCH -- Dec 20 -- Yahoo Personals has a new feature called Quick View, designed to let users scan for potential mates more quickly. Instead of scrolling up and down to view profile information, members can simply select from fifteen different traits (non-smoker, enjoys traveling, etc.) and call them date "makers" or "breakers." They can then view profiles organized by whether or not they include a deal breaker. It's a good way to weed out those undesirables more quickly. FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH

STARTUP-REVIEW -- Dec 10 -- eHarmony was launched Aug' 2000 with $3M funding and grew to $100M+ revenue and established a new category. Sequoia and TCV invested $110M in November 2004 and it was rumored ~$80M was used to buy out founders shares. eHarmony made its mark in the online dating landscape by establishing its brand as the site for the serious relationship seeker, particularly women. eHarmony weeds the non-serious. On traditional dating sites, over 80% of e-mails go unanswered. eHarmony was the first site to moderate the flow of introductions and was able to charge more and monetize women more effectively. eHarmony got its first growth spurt by being featured on Christian radio program, Focus on the Family. In 2001 eHarmony struggled to acquire users but in 2002 the service produced marriages which generated PR. The positive PR fueled eHarmony's ability to graduate into radio and TV advertising, the key to its success in taking revenues to the next level. One of the themes that I see recurring in the Startup Review case studies is the importance of mainstream, offline PR to scaling an Internet business. The real people that wanted to tell their stories on TV, radio, and print made for a great human interest story. Companies that have a consumer service that naturally lend themselves to a good story are likely to see the greatest success.

The full article was originally published at Startup-Review, but is no longer available.

CCN MATTHEWS -- Dec 15 -- Members of Community Connect's (16 million members) BlackPlanet.com and MiGente.com will be able to use voice (phone) chat communities Vibeline and Fonochat. Teligence offered Livelinks® in the '90s followed by TangoPersonals®, Interactive Male®, Vibeline®, and Fonochat®. Customers use these voice enabled systems for chatting and connecting. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN MATTHEWS

HERALD TRIBUNE -- Dec 17 -- A handful of giant media companies, like NBC Universal, News Corp., Viacom and possibly CBS, are close to announcing a new Web site that will feature some of their best-known television programming and other clips in an attempt to build a business for distributing video on the Internet to rival YouTube. The new business could be announced as soon as this week.

The full article was originally published at Herald Tribune, but is no longer available.

BUSINESS WIRE -- Dec 14 -- Mountains West will acquire Together Dating, The Right One (offline dating) and eLove.com (their online initiative). Together, The Right One and eLove has been a dominant player in the off-line dating business since 1974 and has a total of 59 physical office locations across the U.S. (24 corporate owned and 35 franchise locations). Paul A. Falzone, CEO of The Right One stated,"Our ROI for marketing expenditures has increased significantly because our cost per acquisition of new members has decreased greatly. We now compete for leads with the online services because our conversion rates are very similar, but our memberships are at a much higher price point. This is the first step in what I believe will be the future transformation of our business and industry." Said Bradford Megahan, president of Together, "We now can provide different levels of personal service to single people of all ages with various price points."

Mark Brooks: Online services should consider reaching into the real world and providing higher levels of service to maintain the highest levels of profitability. i.e. matchmaking services. At the end of the day, singles want dates with compatible singles. Whoever gets them there quickest, cheapest, wins. The Right One serves punters at the $3000 pricepoint. So does Great Expectations. So does It's Just Lunch. So does Table For Six. Match is toying with matchmaking services. Love Access is committed to offering high end services. Who's next? Spark should consider them for JDate. TRUE could do well with higher end services.

PR WEB -- Dec 8 -- The Grameen Foundation blog will commemorate the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to encourage continued public support for microfinance and poverty eradication. Professor Yunus and Grameen Bank received the prize on Sunday in Oslo. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB

Mark Brooks: The CEO of The Grameen Foundation blogged about the ceremony and experience. Markus Frind, CEO of PlentyofFish is helping the team of ex-Yahoo's create a social networking service for non-profits. The blog is the first step for this pre-launch company. I'm helping out.

OPW -- Dec 9 -- I was perusing around Mate1.com and reviewed the terms of service and found this... Summary> "Mate1 hires "Online Ambassadors" to greet members and help safeguard against abuse. The mission of the "Online Ambassadors" is to interact with members and encourage their active participation on the site and encourage both old and new members to add photos and voice recordings to their profiles... The Online Ambassadors are not responsible for explicitly notifying members with whom they correspond of their status as Online Ambassadors."

Mark Brooks: I like the idea of encouraging and helping users with their profiles. Mate1 identifies the profiles of Online Ambassadors with an OA insignia. Adult/casual dating sites are especially prone to 'abuse' with spammers and scammers. They're using the OA's to test people to see if they're scammers? Your comments please.